Tinto y Blanco

I went to a very interesting tasting yesterday, had a couple of very good wines and some top tier ports.  So I'm all fired up today, not that it takes much.  As a side note, I should have a couple of Spanish wines under screwcap to review in a couple of weeks, along side their cork closed brothers.  Old news for us Aussies, but not for the Spanish.

Anyway, this is clearly the benchmark Monastrell.  A big call as we only have a dozen or so wines available in Australia, but there you go.  High altitude, old vines, careful oak treatment and smart winemaking all add up to a top end wine.  I'd like to try this against some the top end French mourvedre based wines, I think the quality here would shine though.

A nice cherry red at the edge of the glass, a bit darker towards the centre.  An expressive and rich nose of cherry, mulberry, anise/clove,  pepper, a bit of toasty wood and musk that is really enticing.  The approach is very burgundian, elegant, smooth and supple with attention to detail in all the right places.  Foggy, smooth tannins, great balance and just the right level of acid.  Tart cherry, mulberry and plum with sage and minerals.  Very long finish.  Excellent stuff. 95 Pts.

Source: The Spanish Acquisition Price: $65 Closure: Conventional Cork

Other vintages: 2003

I've been in Sydney for the last couple of days and had a look around the "Spanish Quarter".   Hmmm… I can see why it is so confusing for many people to identify quality Spanish food and wine.  Most of the restaurants are reinforcing many of the myths about Spanish food and wine, a bit cheesy with average wine and loads of chili in the food (contrary to popular belief there is not a lot of chili in Spanish food, if it is used it's there for flavour not heat).  Good fun none the less and I found a good deli with excellent Jamon.  Thank god for places like Bodega, its a marvel.

Anyway, here is a very interesting Monatrell from Alicante.  This one is from a magnum, which is about the right size for this wine, it's highly drinkable and evolves constantly over a couple of hours.  The vines are up very high at 2300 ft and are over 50 years old.  The wine sees 14 months in 500 litre French oak barrels.  For the Brett nazi's, there is a bit of barnyard on the nose, but I don't think its brett related.  I decanted half of this into a 750ml bottle and will have another look tonight.

Dark reddish purple with cherry red towards the edge of the glass.  A lot of changes in the glass over the couple of hours I drank this, started off with pink musk sticks and cherry on the nose that built into blackberry, smoke, sage and rosemary, a bit of anise and barnyard and minerally earth.  It hovers in between medium and full bodied. Not rustic at all, rather elegant and refined. It does need a good decant to really show it stuff, but the evolution in the decanter is very interesting to watch.  Soft, chalky tannins build a velvety texture, with the acid to keep you mouth fresh.  On the palate there is tart blackberry and boysenberry with earth, herbs and some minerals.  Good length on the finish.  Well worth tracking down, probably the best monastrell I've had to date.  92 Pts.

Source: The Spanish Acquisition Price: $140 (1.5 Ltr) $65 (750mls)

 Closure: Conventional Cork

Each release of this wine has seen great improvement, this is definitely the best so far.  I can't tell if its good vintage conditions in 05, changes in wine making or something else completely. Alicante is in the province of Alicante, a bit closer to the coast than Jumilla and Yecla.  Not a lot of wine seems to make out of the D.O., but I notice that they grow Pinot Noir…

The 05 is a really smooth wine, with very good balance.  A purple/red colour in the glass, dark fruit, rose notes, earth and a few specks of pepper.  The alcohol is in balance with the fruit, the tannins are quite lush.  Medium bodied, but full of flavour. Very well priced too.  This will be great in autumn with a good stew.  87 Pts